Mindfulness Meditation Podcast - Mindfulness Meditation: Spotlight on Women’s Leadership in American Buddhism 09/26/2024

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

The Rubin Museum presents a weekly meditation for beginners and skilled meditators alike. Each episode is inspired by a different work of art from the Museum’s collection and is led by a prominent meditation teacher.In this episode, Lama Aria Drolma's meditation begins at 31:35, Kimberly Brown's meditation at 52:23, and Tracy Cochran's meditation at 1:00.Teachers: Kimberly Brown, Tracy Cochran, and Lama Aria DrolmaTheme: TransformationArtwork: Green Tara; Tibet; 18th century; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; gift of Shelley and Donald Rubin; C2006.66.19 (HAR 672)This program is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Insight Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism.Learn more about the Rubin Museum’s work around the world at rubinmuseum.org. 

Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation Podcast presented by the Rubin Museum of Art. We are a museum in Chelsea, New York City that connects visitors to the art and ideas of the Himalayas and serves as a space for reflection and personal transformation. I'm your host, Tashi Chodron. Every Thursday, we present a meditation session inspired by a different artwork from the Rubin Museum's collection and led by a prominent meditation teacher from the New York area. This podcast is a recording of our weekly in-person practice. In the description for each episode, you will find information about the theme for that week's session, including an image of the

related artwork. Our mindfulness meditation Podcast is presented in partnership with Sharon Salzberg and teachers from the New York Inside Meditation Center, the Interdependence Project, and Parabola Magazine, and supported by the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation for American Buddhism. And now, please enjoy your practice. Good afternoon, everyone. Tashidele, how's everyone doing? So wonderful to see such a big crowd on this rainy day.

And of course, it's a very special, bittersweet feeling today. So welcome, welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation at the Rubin Museum of Art. I'm Tashi Chodron, Himalayan Programs and Communities Ambassador, and I'm delighted to be your host today. We are a global hub for Himalayan art with home base in New York City. have all of you join us for this very special session as I would think all of you know that today marks our last mindfulness meditation program in the Rubin Museum Theater. So for me as a host, I've gone through many last, last in the last couple of months, you know, October 6th is our last day in this physical space. And we all know that we are going global. We are going wall-less. And someone who has literally grew up learning as a lay practitioner about impermanence and about disseminating. So I am, as a Tibetan

lay practitioner, I'm looking forward to our going global and disseminating our essence of the collection, hoping many more will enjoy and benefit. So the theme of this extended session, running from 1 p.m. to 2.30, is Women's Leadership in American Buddhism, funded by Frederick Lenz Foundation. And we are honored to welcome Kimberly Brown, Lama Arya Doma, and Tracy Cochran. So these three long-standing mindfulness meditation teachers will share insights from their respective traditions. So inspired by our collection, we will first take a look at work of art. We will then hear a brief talk from our teachers on the theme of women's leadership in American Buddhism. And then we will have a short sit, about 50 to 20 minutes, for the meditation guided by them. So for today's session, the art is selected by all three of them unanimously.

And the art for today's session is this beautiful Thangka painting of green Tara. Now Tara emanates in 21 different forms and out of the 21 forms, two of the most common and the popular ones are white Tara and green Tara. How you can identify which Tara it is, is by not only by the color, but you look at how she's sitting. So the green Tara, she sits in a royal ease position, left leg folded, right leg extended, and her left arm holding the stem of the Utpala, lotus flower family, and right hand in the mudra of supreme generosity.

Antara is known to be the mother of all the Bodhisattvas. She has manifested in Buddha as well as in Bodhisattva. How, again, you can find Bodhisattva is by looking at the iconography, all this beautiful visual, the arms, necklace, crown, bracelet and belt and all of that. Each Tara associates with certain role and the green Tara associates with the enlightened activity. Green Tara is often known as the protector of eight great fears and the fears can be outer aspects as well as inner aspects and the outer aspect is threatened to life or property like fire and flood and all of that. And the inner aspect is the inner defilement of anger, hatred, which brings so much suffering and pain. So this green Tara brings wisdom and hopefully we'll have

a great wisdom leader for our future. So the connection to the theme is Tara's benevolence supports the transformation of fear and anxiety into a sense of peace and serenity. And now let's bring on our teacher for today. Our teachers are Kimberly Brown, Tracy Cochran, and Lama Arya Doma. Kimberly Brown is a meditation teacher and author. She leads classes and retreats that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness meditation to reconnect us to ourselves and others. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a certified mindfulness instructor. Her latest book, Happy Relationships, 25 Buddhist Practices to Transform Your Connection with Your Partner, Family and Friends, was released in February. You can learn more about Kimberly on her website, meditationwithheart.com.

Tracy Cochran has been a student and teacher of meditation and spiritual practice for decades. She's the founder of Hudson River Sangha, which is now virtual and is open to all. The link of her weekly meditations can be found on her website, tracycochran.org. In addition, Tracy has taught mindfulness meditation and mindful writing at the Rubin Museum of Art and the New York Insight Meditation Center, as well as in schools, corporations, and other venues worldwide. She's also a writer and editorial director of Parabola magazine, which is one of the best sellers in our gift shop. And Lama Arya Doma is an ordained Buddhist teacher in the Karmakarju tradition of Tibetan Buddhism

who has completed over a decade of monastic study and meditation training. She emphasizes Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhist principles, making them relevant in our everyday lives, helping us to cultivate loving kindness and compassion and bring about a transformation of contentment and a genuine sense of well-being. So, this session will carry on with all our three teachers, including a guided meditation, and then we will return with a Q&A session. So please help me in welcoming our teachers from Arya Dharma Community and FACI. and Aridharma, Kivalli, and Kasi.

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this mindfulness meditation session. Thank you, Tashi, for the introduction. And I am so honored to be here with all of you and these esteemed teachers, Tracy and Kimperley. What an honor. And today, as you see, the artwork is Mother Tara. And the theme of this month is transformation. the theme of this month is transformation, and with added to it is the spotlight on women's leadership in American Buddhism. And so, in Buddhism, Buddhism recognizes that women and men are equally capable of attaining enlightenment, and that enlightenment is both feminine and masculine aspects. So in Vajrayana Buddhism, which is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism,

Vajrayana Buddhism is called the diamond vehicle or the diamond path or the thunderbolt path. So in Tibetan Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism is one of the highest path where you can become enlightened in one lifetime. So for us to even practice Vajrayana Buddhism, it is very, very meritorious. So in Vajrayana Buddhism, all the rituals and the practice is aimed at becoming enlightened. And so in Vajrayana Buddhism, women held a very unique and revered role. a very unique and revered role. Vajrayana teachings emphasize that the balance of masculine and female energies, both are essential for spiritual realization. So even though the topic today is about, you know, the spotlight on women's role in American Buddhism, I want to emphasize something very important.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimately, there is really no gender to becoming enlightened. But relatively, we're all born with certain bodies, so there's that gender classification. But, and in Vajrayana, I want to emphasize that you need both the female energy and the masculine energy to be enlightened. So the most significant point about women in early Buddhism is traditionally, you know, everywhere there were Arhats who had the highly liberated beings who became totally

enlightened. In spite of women's role in Buddhism, it was difficult for them to take leadership roles and And women were traditionally expected, at least in the Asian societies, to focus on domestic duties. They were caregivers, caretakers. So it was very difficult for them to rise into position of leadership. leadership and I think this factor could be many factor why in Asia, even though, you know, Buddhism emphasizes that, you know, to become enlightened, you need both the feminine and the masculine energy but women in some ways could not really, you know, have those leadership in some ways, could not really, you know, have those leadership roles that all the other, you know, the male counterparts enjoyed. And I think this could be for many, many reasons,

you know, as I mentioned, women had to be, you know, they were more like caretakers, and they didn't have financial independence. It also had to be attributed to the social situations, which could be geography, you know, the terrain in all those countries, it was not like that they had roads and cars. The ones who had, who probably followed Buddhism, the ones who probably followed Buddhism, the women, you know, they were probably from noble families where they had, you know, male chauffeurs, or they were probably carried on palanquins, you know, where you see the women being carried. So there were a lot of factors for women who could not take those leadership roles. But in spite of that, there were some very, very well-known, and women didn't have access to education as we see it in the Western countries. So, but even in spite of all this, there were some very iconic women in Buddhism. So those, one of the, you know, some of the iconic women that we still pay reverence to is Mother Tara.

Although in the ancient societies, they had the patriarchal, you know, societal gender classification, what the roles men and women had to do. In the Western country, really Buddhism, women, you know, really rose into leadership roles, as you see these marvelous, fabulous teachers here. And you see so many women, you know, because of the education, because of the gender equality, women rose into power in the Western world. And they had access to a lot of non-profit organizations. The Western societies propelled women. They gave them the path, the leadership roles, and the education system, financial

independence. All of this really was very conducive for women to have leadership roles here in the West. So I shall pass this to Kimberly now. Thank you, Aria. Thank you. A whole bunch of things written down, but I think I'm going to speak from my heart. First, I am not here representing any particular lineage at all. There are two reasons for that. One is that I think it's important for Western people to know that you can be a devoted Buddhist without a lineage. And the second reason that I didn't choose a lineage is that many of them require devotion to a person, and that person

is usually a man. I'm not saying that is necessarily always a bad thing, but in my experience of training with Buddhism, I can tell you I have close friends who have been coerced into sexual relationships with teachers. I myself had a Zen teacher who was incredibly inappropriate with me and others in the community. And, you know, Arya mentioned the relative and the ultimate, right? The ultimate is, yes, there is no gender. We all have Buddha nature. And so we can all awaken, right? But we do live in a relative world. We experience bias and sexism and all the other things, right? And Buddhism is part of the culture that it's in. If it's here or in any other country,

it will include the positive and the negative and difficult things that are in it. and difficult things that are in it. Some Buddhists might believe or do believe that Buddha and other teachers have transcended humanness, that they are somehow becoming enlightened, are omniscient, you'll hear, or godlike. And I don't believe that. I believe the Buddha was a man. To me, this is the most encouraging thing in the world, to know that he was human, that he made mistakes. But through these practices, he woke up, right? And Buddhism is,

these practices, he woke up, right? And Buddhism is, the point of it is to alleviate suffering. And it works. If you practice it, you will suffer less. So in the early texts, they tell us that, you know, first the Buddha started out, he didn't even know if he was going to teach anybody. But right after his enlightenment, he met up with five people that he'd been studying with. And he told them. That's where he gave the first turning of the wheel. He told them about the Four Noble Truths. So off he goes.

He's a teacher now. And at first, he's teaching men. And at first, he's teaching men. And what we have from the early texts is that his stepmother, who raised him, asked if she could join, if she could be a monastic, you know, a disciple. And his first reaction was, no, because women can't do that. And the story, what's written in the Pali is that one of his students, Ananda, a very close student, said, Wait, I don't understand. You know, the nature is the nature.

Like, you know. And the Buddha reversed it. And he did accept his stepmother and he trained her and many other monastics. But it wasn't easy for them. There were more rules for the female monastics than the male. And we have this wonderful collection of teachings of the early Buddhist nuns. It's called the Terragatta. And in it, you can hear their joy and their freedom, you know, and you can also hear they talk about their struggle,

you know, the particular struggles of being a female in that time and place. So So this transformation, it is happening. You know, just as Arya said, for all three of us to be up here, that's a huge transformation in this tradition. And it's happening all over the world. You know, they're in Thailand. They're having to start to recognize and address the status of nuns there. Start to recognize and address the status of nuns there. And in many countries, they're, you know, talking more about it. And here, you know, things coming more to light. are able to be with the disappointment that arises in discovering that teachers and even traditions might not be perfect.

And I think it's really Nepal and India to retrace the steps of the Buddha and the first 500 Buddhist women who were seeking ordination, seeking full permission to study. And of course, I set out with a question that has animated my life, which is, what am I doing? What do I think I'm doing? Flying 21 hours to Kathmandu and to Lampini, the birthplace of the Buddha, and then to his home. And then I started to get it. I walked on the palace grounds

where he was raised. There's nothing left, just pathways. But they know that this was the place. And I felt something. It's like I felt something from the earth itself. And I was traveling with Jetson, my attention palmo, who is a rare Tibetan nun.

And I asked her, did you feel something? Am I crazy or being a hippie or something? Did you feel a vibration? And she said, think of the people who have walked here, who came here. But what dawned on me in that place is that the Buddha was a baby and a boy and a man who was loved. He was loved by the woman who raised him. And he took that feeling under the tree. So I went from that place, the group of us, to New Grove, where the woman who loved him went to hear teachings. He'd come back after he found enlightenment. And the men in the village didn't want the women to hear, even the husbands. And the Buddha said, yes, you can hear, you can listen. But they went back five years later and requested permission to be fully ordained,

like all the husbands were. And he said no. Forget it. And I couldn't help being a mother. I couldn't help feeling the rejection that his mother must have felt the woman who raised him. And at the same time, I asked, how could an enlightened being refused transmission, full transmission to women. And she said, I think he was saying, not now, not now. She didn't answer everything, but being a Western woman, I kept pressing.

And he told them to stay home, dress in white, and meditate. And just practice that way. And I asked her, why didn't you just do that? Why didn't you just say, the heck with it? We'll just work this way.

And she said, think of the karma. It was their destiny. They were determined, not just in the sense of having grit, but it was meant meant to be. So what touched me? And I went there as an outsider. I thought of myself as an outsider. It was an extraordinary sense of mutual belonging. Just by standing in these places, I was bearing witness to something that really happened. And then we got on a bus and traveled 14 hours from Nepal to India to Vaisakha, the place where the mother of Buddha and 500 women finally, finally, finally, with the doctor's permission, help, not permission, intercession were received into the Sangha.

And the description that these women, they're covered in dirt and racket, and their feet are bleeding, and so many questions. How did they do it? They were highborn. How did they do it? They were highborn. So how did they even know how to survive in the jungle? Did they take people?

And what about the children? Jetson kept saying that. Who took their kids? So it's a mystery still. So much of this is a mystery. But what touched me thinking about coming here today was the recognition that Mahaprashti, the Buddha was not young. She wasn't young. I worked about a 21-hour plane trip. Some people say late 60s. Some people say 80s, like Jetson was. And she set that out. Nothing was known. Nothing was certain. Everything was a mess. Actually, it was a mess. She had a broken heart.

She probably had other medical problems too. But they just kept going. They kept going. They kept going. They kept going. They kept going. And somehow, sitting in this place, and no, there's no monument to these women. It's a tree in a farm of farmland. farm of farmland

and sitting in that place I was in white like those early women it touched me that the point perhaps

it's in getting there but the qualities of heart compassion it's in getting there. But the qualities of heart, compassion, determination, the wisdom it took to lead these people that open every step of the way. So I can't mean to go over my time, but it struck me on that trip that we are waking up together.

And in the company of Tara and those women and the Buddha and these women, this was the first time I got to meet them. But somehow we're all together in this. So that's what I have to say. Thank you. Yes, looking back, and, you know, I was born in India as well, and I was so lucky to go on a pilgrimage when I did become a Buddhist to all the sacred places that Buddha performed miracles, where Buddha became enlightened. And these places, the terrain, there's a beautiful place in Rajgir

where Buddha gave the teachings of the Heart Sutra, one of the highest teachings. So obviously we trekked there, one of the holy sites, and it was not for the faint. So it was a lot of steep walking in the hills. There was forest and so many things. So when I look back about why it probably deterred a lot of women and those days, as I mentioned, there were no proper roads

and the forest must be even dense. There were no proper roads and the forest must be even dense. And literally there was tigers and lions and elephants back then. So it must have deterred a lot of women into participating, going on pilgrimages because Buddha traveled a lot and the terrain was not really conducive. lot. And, you know, the terrain was not really conducive. And so was probably, you know, how do women carry their children and walk around and the summer heat and the rain. So I'm really, really so honored for the women who, you know, had the courage and the determination to endure all this and still thrive. Yes, that's my take on that. Thank you for that beautiful story, Tracy.

And so now coming back to the mindfulness meditation, in honor of Mother Tara, her presence in the Buddhist teaching symbolizes the breaking of all traditional gender barriers, offering a model of enlightened feminine power and compassion that transcends the limitations often placed on, you know, women in religious and spiritual contexts. So it would probably be fitting today to have this mindfulness meditation on Mother Tara.

And this is something, a very, very special mindfulness meditation. And this incorporates visualizing Mother Tara. So I'll ring the bell, and it'll be a guided mindfulness meditation. So if anyone is new, I will give you a guided meditation, so you just have to listen. And those who are here who have been meditating for a while, I'm sure it will be very, very easy for you as well.

So let's all sit upright. And if you have any backache or any pain, then just be relaxed. It's really important to be very relaxed and comfortable. And then let's all come be centered and bring our mind's attention to the present moment. Bring our mind's attention to the present moment. So let's do a few breaths, taking in, inhale and exhale. And keep your mind's attention on your breath. And as you breathe out,

And as you breathe out, just relax and be in the present moment of awareness. Let's do a count of seven breaths. Inhalation and exhalation count as 1. Inhale and exhale. Breathe normally at your own pace. Keep your mind's attention and observing your breath. And if you have completed your seven breaths, now you can open your eyes and look at that Mother Tara. And next to her is the mantra, Tara and next to her is the mantra which is pronounced as Om Tare, Tu Tare, Ture, Toha. So this is a visualization meditation. Mother Tara is a powerful Buddhist deity. She's revered and prayed every day in

monasteries all around the world. And this is a visualization meditation. So you can visualize from a heart center a beautiful green light emanating and then touching your heart center and the whole light, green beautiful light permeates the whole body. And just keep your mind's attention on your breath. This light that she emanates from our heart is filled with compassion, unconditional love, peace,

and fully healing your body. Let's sit for a while, focusing our mind, mind's attention on our breath. Thank you. You can listen to the sound of a mantra. Om Tare Ture Tare Ture Doha. You can visualize from a heart center beautiful green light emanating, filling your heart

with that green light and permeating your whole body with that green light filled with compassion, Formulating your whole body with that clean light, filled with compassion, unconditional love, peace, and healing you completely, and eliminating all your fears.

And just sit in that moment, in that present moment of awareness. You can listen to a mantra which is OM TARE TU TARE TURE SOHA You can visualize Mother Tara even more vividly. She sits on a lotus, pink lotus, and above the pink lotus is a moon disk,

which is flat. She sits above it, and her right hand symbolizes generosity. And her left, she holds near her chest, the phala flower. Kedua jari berterima, yang membentuk kebenaran, dan tiga jari lain membentuk buddha, dharma dan sangha yang dibangun Dan dia telah berjanji Sehingga kita menjadi penuh penyelamat Dia akan membantu dan melindungi kita

Dia adalah ibu kepada semua Buddha that she will guide us and protect us. She is the mother of all Buddhas. Again, keep your mind's attention on your breath. Observe your breath. And as you exhale, just rest in that present moment of awareness. and you can visualize from Mother Tara's heart beautiful green light filled with unconditional love peace joy

it comes penetrates your heart fills your body with that green light of unconditional love filling you with compassion kindness and love filling you with compassion, kindness, and love. And you are completely healed.

Let's sit in this present moment of awareness. Mantra is OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA Thank you. Your mind has wandered off to some thought. That's okay. Just say, thinking, just drop the storyline and bring your mind's attention back to your breath.

Just observing your breath going in, inhaling. Observe your breath, out breath. As you breathe out just rest in that present moment of awareness totally relaxed in the present moment Now visualize more deeply the image you see in front of you from Mother Tara's heart, beautiful green light touches your heart and fills your whole body with the green light of unconditional love, compassion, peace. and healing you completely. Sit in this present moment of awareness. Thank you. Again, remind yourself to keep your mind's attention on your breath inhale and exhale as you exhale just rest in that present moment of awareness being here in present moment. Again, let's deeply visualize Mother Tara right in front of you, or where the image

is. And from her heart emanates this beautiful green light and touches your heart and fills your whole body this beautiful green light unconditional love compassion love and peace, healing you completely and just rest in that present moment. Her mantra is OM TARE TU TARE TU RE SOHA And please know this is one of the most important

deity practices whenever you have any fear in your heart you can always do this meditation and this visualization and once again this meditation and this visualization. And once again, I'll repeat a mantra. Om Tare, Tu Tare, Ture, Doha. And you can gently open your eyes now. Then just roll your shoulders a little bit,

and your head if you want a little bit. Come back to this present moment. This is the meditation where you can continuously receive the blessings. It could be angels, all these beautiful, wonderful, beautiful creatures, I mean

deities and goddesses and this is how you take their light to bless yourself. Thank you. Thank you, Aria. So the development of compassion is throughout the Buddhist tradition. It's a cumulative tradition.

So although this deity practice is later than the early teachings, it's referencing our capacity to develop compassion and wisdom. It is said in the teachings that compassion and wisdom, they arise together. It's like a coin. You can't have heads without tails. You can't have compassion without wisdom. So that's what we're developing when we're developing compassion. And when the Buddha was alive, and I think almost 800 years after he died,

I'm not exactly certain, in that place and time, they didn't have statues or gods. And I only recently learned about this because the Met Museum had an amazing exhibit last year of early Buddhist art. And it was not what I was accustomed to, like the Rubin Museum. The way at that time the Buddha was represented was they might leave an empty chair, you know, an empty seat, that would represent the Buddha. And another way is they would have footprints. And another way is they would have footprints.

And at this exhibit, they had all kinds of Buddha footprints, like, you know, cast in different ways and set in different places. They also had a Dharma wheel, and that represented the Buddha. But of course, in the early tradition, they were still developing compassion and wisdom. And there are many, many techniques. This is among the most powerful, especially Western people. We are really good at visualizing, right? With a great imagination. But another way we can do it is through loving kindness or metta meditation. And you know, metta meditation is, metta is the Pali word, and my tree, which you'll hear throughout this museum,

that's the Sanskrit word, okay? Metta and my tree for loving kindness or love, goodwill, all right? And so we're gonna do a little practice, a little loving-kindness practice. And just one last note, as we, whether you believe this or not, to consider the theory of reincarnation

can be very, very powerful to connect you and me and all of us together because it says we've all been female, we've all been male, we've all been a ladybug, we've all been a murderer, and we've all been a victim, right? We've been a fish, we've been a toad, right? And when you think about that, it gives you a little bit more compassion and connection, right? To all these beings, right? So considering that today, you know, if you're here as a man, well, you were once female, right? And if you're a female now, it doesn't mean you always were. So just keeping that in your heart as we go into this practice. It won't be very long.

You can go ahead and close your eyes. You can maybe put your hands on your thighs. Just noticing that you're here. You know, feeling your breath. You know, feeling your breath. Feeling that your feet on the floor. Your seat. And of course, noticing that you're breathing.

And for this meditation, I would like you to put a hand on your heart and a hand on your belly. And just leave that here for the, we're only going to be here a few minutes. Just leave your hand on your heart and your hand on your belly. You will feel your breath very easily, it's likely. You'll also be connecting with your own beautiful presence, your nature, this stainless, genderless, spacious and wise and compassionate aspect. And I'd like you just to, you know, make a connection with yourself now. You know, you're feeling your hand on your heart. You might notice your presence.

You could also imagine you're looking in the mirror, and I'd like you to say to yourself just for a minute, may I be happy and healthy and free. May I be happy and healthy and free. May I be happy and healthy and free. And just saying this, repeating this to yourself just for about a minute. Thank you. May I be happy and healthy and free. May I be feeling your breath and your presence, and you can let go of the visualization and connect with a female being that you know and love.

Someone in your life that you care about. Maybe imagine they're right here with you, seeing what they look like, and saying to them, may you be happy and healthy and free. May you be happy and healthy and free. May you be happy and healthy and free. May you be happy, and healthy, and free. And just for a minute, saying these

phrases of kindness and wisdom like you're giving them a gift. Thank you. May you be happy and healthy and free. You can let go of this connection with this female being, noticing your feet, your breath. In the tradition, in order to offer our wishes to all beings, one way to do that is to include and exclude. So we might say, may all flying creatures be happy, and may all non-flying creatures be happy. And that covers everyone, right? So today, first we're going to say, may all female beings be happy and healthy and free. May all

female beings be happy and healthy and free. And may all non-female beings be happy and healthy and free. May all beings be happy and healthy and free. May it be so. Thanking yourself for this practice and your efforts and your heart as you bring your attention, opening your eyes, bringing your attention to our conversation. And you can move or stretch, whatever feels good, as we hear from Tracy. I have the privilege of doing one of the most beautiful parts of this practice, which is dedication, the dedication of the practice. And one of the

things I love about coming into this space is that I may come in here feeling separate and lonely even, or burdened with some problem. But I often melt during the practice, become more porous, and remember a meaning of this practice, to remember presence, to remember that I am connected to you, to others, and to long ago beings like the ones we were speaking of. When I felt those grounds, I realized my opinion doesn't really matter. My opinion about rebirth, whether I agree, what I touch, is that my heart is bigger than It could be the heart of Tara. My mind could be as open as sky. And my body is the same body as those early people who walked all that way. who walked all that way. So we dedicate the merits,

and you can put your hands in your heart space if you wish. We feel gratitude, gratitude for this practice that opens us to this presence, a presence that opens us to this presence, a presence that connects us to all beings, those long-ago women and the Buddha, and all beings everywhere in all time and offer the wishes that we all be safe and protected on our journey to awakening. and cared for by beings known and unknown, and wishing with our hearts of Tara that all beings everywhere, ultimately,

including ourselves, be entirely free of all suffering, delusion, every kind of suffering, entirely free. Thank you so much. Thank you. So grateful to all three of you. And the Bodhisattvas in Paris, all of you. Thank you all so much. And thank you for the beautiful teaching on the two truths, relative and the ultimate. Relative world, the time is ticking. That concludes this week's practice. To support the Rubin and this meditation series,

we invite you to become a member at rubinmuseum.org membership. And to stay up to date with the Rubin Museum's virtual and in-person offerings, sign up for a monthly newsletter at rubinmuseum.org slash enews. I am Tashi Chodron. Thank you so much for listening. Have a mindful day.